Slavery in the U.S.

Guided Notes

Name:______________________________________ Date:____________________________

Essential Question: What was life for slaves like and what efforts did they make to resist their
enslavement and gain freedom?

Slavery in the U.S,

 Slavery definition: ______________________________________________________
 Slaves are not considered ________________________________________________.
They are instead considered ______________________________________________.
Slaves were ___________________________________________________________.
Laws severely _________________________________________________________.
 Because slaves were considered ___________________________________________.
 Slaves could not _______________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________.
 The children of slaves ___________________________________________________.
 Chattel slavery definition:________________________________________________
 What race were slaves?: _________________________________________________
o This led to ideas that ______________________________________________.

What do you think is going on in this image?

A Slave Auction What evidence makes you think that?

What does this demonstrate about slavery in

the US? Why?
 Map of the US
Slave States:
Free States:

Indicate the states

that are slave states.
Color them red.

Indicate the states

that are free states.
Color them blue.

Slave Population
Where was slavery legal?

What was the slave population in 1790?

What was the slave population in 1860?

What proportion of the Southern population

were slaves?

Life as a Slave
 The life of a slave mainly focused on _______________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________.
 Most famously, some slaves ______________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________.
 Slave families were _____________________________________________________.
o Marriages between slaves __________________________________________.
 Slaves were typically forbidden ____________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________.
 Evidence for what life was like ____________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________.
 Cruelty Towards Slaves
Slaves were often ____________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________.

Examine the photo to the right.

What happened here?

Who do you think might have taken and

published photo like this?

Why do you think that slaves received harsh

punishments like this? Discuss with your
elbow partner and be prepared to share.

Opposing Views on Slavery

 Most slave-owners in the South _________________________. They claimed that
they _________________________________________________________________.
 Some slave-owners argued that ____________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________.
 Slaves and abolitionists argued differently. They saw slavery as __________________
_____________________________________________________________________.
 Abolitionists: _________________________________________________________.
These opposing views show two different accounts of history from opposing viewpoints. Why
do you think each side had a different account? Evaluate which account you think is more
credible and explain why.
 Examples of Opposing Views on Slavery
Image A Image B

Which image do you think is pro-slavery and which do you think is anti-slavery? Label them
on above and explain below why you think that way.

Resistance of Slaves
Watch the video in class and list 4 ways that slaves resisted their enslavement.
1.
2.
3.
4.

Why were these effective ways of resisting?

Pause and Reflect

Take a moment to stop and think. Imagine what life was like for slaves based on everything
we’ve learned so far and put yourself in their shoes. How would you feel? Write 1 or 2
sentences explaining how you would feel.

It is important to have empathy for the people of the past and their experiences. That is how
we can understand the past and the people who lived through it.
Essential Question: What was life for slaves like and what efforts did they make to resist their
enslavement and gain freedom?
(Answer all parts of the question. Your answer should be at least 3 to 5 sentences long.
Provide examples from your notes as evidence to support your answer.)